DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 11 and 27 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 11, the term “the cyclone” in line 15, lacks proper antecedent basis. When considering the additional amendments to the claim, as well as similar amendments to claim 13, it is best understood by the examiner, that the limitation is considered to be intended to define that the dirt chamber is exterior to the air treatment chamber, as opposed to a cyclone, and will be treated as such for the sake of the current Office Action.
Regarding claim 27, the limitation “wherein the handle comprises a pistol grip” has been duplicated, and one occurrence should be deleted.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
Claims 1-3, 5, 10, 21 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takahashi (JP S18107459; to be referred to hereinafter as TK).
Regarding claim 1, TK discloses a hand vacuum cleaner having a front end having a nozzle (12), a clean air outlet (16), an upper end and a bottom, the nozzle extending from an upstream end to a downstream end, the hand vacuum cleaner comprising:(a) a vacuum cleaner body (7) comprising an upper end, a lower end, a front end, a rear end and a handle (4), the handle extending between a first handle end and a second handle end, the vacuum cleaner body including a suction motor and fan assembly (8/9), the suction motor and fan assembly having a suction motor axis of rotation; and,(b) a dirt separator (10) comprising an openable door (at front end, openable via threads 11), air treatment chamber (between nozzle 12 and fan 9) having an air treatment chamber air inlet (at 11), an air treatment chamber air outlet (at fan 9), a front end, a rear end and an air treatment chamber axis extending between the front end and the rear end of the air treatment chamber, wherein an end of the openable door is located at a front wall of the dirt separator (front wall defined by the curved front end, surrounding guide hole 13, such that the openable door and front wall coincide, which will effectively locate the openable door at the front wall) and when the door is in an open position, a front end of a dirt collection region (within 10) of the dirt separator is opened, wherein when the hand vacuum cleaner is positioned with the upper end above the bottom, the air treatment chamber axis is generally horizontal, and wherein the handle is provided on a sidewall of a rear portion of the vacuum cleaner body, and wherein a handle axis extends through the hand grip portion of the handle from the first end of the hand grip portion to the second end of the hand grip portion and the handle axis intersects the suction motor axis of rotation, and wherein the nozzle has a nozzle axis that extends through a central portion of the air treatment chamber between the front and rear ends of the air treatment chamber.
Regarding claim 2, TK further discloses that the handle axis intersects the suction motor and fan assembly.
Regarding claim 3, TK further discloses that when the hand vacuum cleaner is oriented with the air treatment chamber axis extending generally horizontally, one end of the handle of the hand grip portion is positioned forward of another end of the handle.
Regarding claim 4, TK further discloses that the air treatment chamber axis of rotation and the motor axis of rotation extend in a common direction.
Regarding claim 8 (duplicate limitations from claim 1 will not be addressed), TK further discloses that the nozzle extends through the front wall (at 13).
Regarding claim 10 (duplicate limitations from claim 1 will not be addressed), TK further discloses that the nozzle comprises an inlet passage that extends longitudinally between the upstream end of the nozzle and the downstream end of the nozzle and has a longitudinal passage axis that is coaxial with the air treatment chamber axis.
Regarding claims 21 and 22, TK further discloses that the handle comprises a pistol grip handle (the handle clearly shown to be configured in a shape and orientation that would be considered to be a pistol grip, in the same manner as the applicant’s disclosed invention).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20 and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takahashi (JP S18107459) in view of Martelliere (FR 1,094,603; to be referred to hereinafter as MT).
Regarding claims 11 and 13, (duplicate limitations from claim 1 will not be addressed), TK fails to disclose that the dirt chamber that is opened by the openable door is exterior to the dirt collection chamber (see objection to claim 11 above). MT discloses a similar suction cleaner, with slight variations to the air inlet of the dirt separator, which effectively forms a cyclonic separator within the air treatment chamber (upper portion of a showing the cyclonic airflow arrows) and effectively forming a dirt chamber (below the arrows) that is exterior to the air treatment chamber (at least partially separated from the air treatment chamber by the curved intake tube and considered separate therefrom due to the lack of air treatment or dust/debris separation in the lower portion). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to configure the dirt separator of TK to be similar to the dirt separator of MT, with cyclonic separation known to anyone of ordinary skill in the art to be more effective at separating debris from airflow, more efficient and less likely to clog the filter portion (b and c if MT vs. 10 of TK), wherein the modification would still allow for the openable door of TK to open the front end of the air treatment chamber, which will also open the dirt chamber that is exterior thereto.
Regarding claim 15, TK further discloses that the air treatment chamber axis of rotation and the motor axis of rotation extend in a common direction.
Regarding claim 16 (duplicate limitations from claim 1 will not be addressed), when modified in view of MT, as discussed supra, TK discloses the cleaner having a cyclone unit as the dirt separator, wherein a handle axis extends through the hand grip portion of the handle from the first end of the hand grip portion to the second end of the hand grip portion and the handle axis intersects the vacuum cleaner body (handle disclosed as part of the vacuum cleaner body in section (a), such that the handle axis clearly passes therethrough, as well as other portions of the body), and wherein an end of the openable door is located at a front wall of the cyclone unit, and wherein the nozzle has a nozzle axis that extends through a central portion of the cyclone between the front and rear ends of the cyclone.
Regarding claim 18 (duplicate limitations from claims 1 and 16 will not be addressed), when modified in view of MT, as discussed supra, TK discloses that an end of the openable door is located at a front wall of the cyclone unit (as discussed for claim 1, with the dirt separator of TK is modified to be the cyclone unit), and wherein the nozzle extends through the front wall of the cyclone unit.
Regarding claim 20 (duplicate limitations from claims 1 and 16 will not be addressed), when modified in view of MT, as discussed supra, TK discloses that the nozzle and has a longitudinal passage axis that is coaxial with the cyclone axis of rotation (as previously discussed for claim 10).
Regarding claims 23-27, TK further discloses that the handle comprises a pistol grip handle (the handle clearly shown to be configured in a shape and orientation that would be considered to be a pistol grip, in the same manner as the applicant’s disclosed invention).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7 May 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant has only argues the rejections based on the He reference. However, the examiner maintains the rejections based on the TK reference, and modified from the previous examiner’s rejections, as discussed above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Each of Robinson (3,477,087), White (6,131,2639), Newcombe (1,420,665) and Arnold (8,097,057) disclose vacuums having similar structure as the applicant’s claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRYAN R MULLER whose telephone number is (571)272-4489. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Keller can be reached at 571-272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/BRYAN R MULLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723 20 July 2026
Prosecution Insights